Wedding Photographer Counter Claiming

angel999

My photographer suddenly disappeared and I had to chase her by phone and text, contacting her family/friends via Facebook and someone she used to work with. After nearly 10 months I received the wrong album and a rubbish sample dvd. She claims she has delivered everything......

Failure to supply goods as agreed upon. Photographer received £1000 (2 installments) in advance and a further £100 in August 2010 when an A3 photalbum was completed.

- She supplied an incorrect photo album of poor quality and the photos were not edited. (She claimed by text that it was more expensive and basically that I should be grateful).
- 2 sample dvds were provided again of poor quality and a final version has never been received. A third version was offered by the photographer but never materialised.
- Several items including 4 A4 prints and a copy of all the pics on a dvd including the final video remain outstanding.

I won a judgement and she failed to pay, after enforcement proceedings started where she was asked to supply her attachment of earnings she suddenly stated that she had never received anything from the court.

She is now counter claiming for £300 (outstanding payment - which she told me by text that I would only have to pay £200 for the inconvenience and I have paid her £100 of that so only £100 remains outstanding).

£600 for editing the work 4 times (I only asked for amendments once and this was on the 1st sample copy - I have email evidence of this)

£150 for travel costs (this was included in the cost but now she is claiming for this - I have worked this out using the rac website and it only comes up to £92 and that is by using the current fuel rate and not from 2 years ago).

I claimed for £127 travel costs after she claimed that I could collect the completed work so I made two trips and there was nothing for me to collect. £650 costs for getting someone else to edit the film for me (I provided 3 quotes) but that is only if she provides the raw footage)

I also claimed for £150 if she provides the pictures so that I can get the storybook album created like the one she was supposed to complete. And, finally £40 for 4 A4 prints.

I provided all the text messages I sent her and she sent me which she failed to respond to. The text messages show her deceit. There were also letters which were sent to her via recorded delivery and advice I sought from Consumers Direct.

I am extremely stressed that this is getting dragged out and that I now have to court to defend my case. I apologise in advance if this doesn't make sense but I head is all over the place.

Any advice would be more than welcome - what are my chances? The only evidence I have are the text messages, recorded letters and a crappy photo album

unholyangel

Have you tried phoning solicitors in your area to see if any of them will give you a free consultation?

I'm assuming the first judgement you received was a default judgement as she failed to show? The chances of her having not received notice is slim to none. She perhaps didnt think you had a hope in hell or thought if she didnt show, the case wouldnt go ahead and has only now realised.

Small claims goes on the balance of probabilities (where criminal court is usually beyond all reasonable doubt). In court, having something dated at the time it happened is a lot more useful than things that were dated after as on the balance of probabilities, they're genuine.

Do you have any details of the original contact? For example what services were supposed to be provided and at what cost?

CrazyRatLady_2

I don't have anything to suggest aside from it sounds very unlikely she would win a counter claim.
As a wedding photographer myself - did you see her work and samples of end products before you booked her? If not then a bit of a case of buyer beware as far as quality goes, however if you saw her photos and they're a lot better than what she provided you with it could well be that they aren't her photos, or possibly were taken at a wedding photography 'course' where the tutor set the whole scene up so not much skill wasn't involved. Did you book on recommendation? (Not that that affects anything with regarding to being sued)
Sorry it kind of ruined your wedding though - just over £1000 is enough to pay for a fairly decent photographer so you should have got better than you did.
If the 'photographer' has a website would you mind PM'ing it to me? I'd like to see if I can pick up on any warning signs.

angel999

@unholyangel - The first judgement was a default judgement. So, she would have recieved the original claim and then the notice of the judgement (2 letters). Which means she is claiming not to have received these letters.

I have an invoice which she provided and her travel costs were never listed on this. I sent her 5-7 letters, 3 of which were sent via recorded delivery. I explained the sitution to her and how annoyed I was at having to chase her because she was ignoring calls/text. And ended each letter with the fact that I wish to resolve this amicably without going to court. I also used an application to extract all the text messages which she sent me claiming that she had sent me the dvd, then that there was a delay or that they were ready for collection. The texts again re-iterate that I just want what I have paid for.

Her claim is that she has given me everything and doesn't understand why after 2 years I have an issue. I am hoping that all the letters I have sent provide evidence that she was aware that there was an issue.

I will call around on Monday and try to find a Solicitor who I hope can provide free consultation.

@CrazyRatLady

The album she showed me, I found out later was not hers but someone else's work. Also, her website has been taken down although it had some good pictures on it. I used the whois website to locate her address and confirm her contact number.

My sister actually picked up her card at a wedding she went to. We later found out that she was only helping the main photographer on the day. When I first met her she actually discredited the work of the person she used to work for and then later I found out that he was the one who had completed my album.

Thank you both for your kind words. I will definitely seek legal advice for my own sanity.

vax2002

The court will ask her to confirm her address and if this is confirmed as the address that the papers were served upon the court office log of posting will show this to be the address the papers were posted to and out goes that argument.